
Author 



Title 



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16 — :««2W»-J. GPO 



A BRIEF RECORD 



'■PROCEEDINGS 



^rjjoraium and J Jtnpty of %nm\\m\\\ 



IN HONOR OF THE LATE 



&EIERAL ROBERT EBWARD LEE, 



TOGETHER WITH A 



EULOGY 



LIFE, CHARACTER A N1D SERVICES. 



GENERAL ALEX. R LAWTOX 



SAVANNAH, GA. 

GEO. N. NICHOLS' STEAM POWER PRESSES. 

1871. 






A BRIEF RECORD 



PROCEEDINGS 






IN HONOR OF THE LATE 



&EIERAL ROBERT EDWARD LEE. 



TOGETHER WITH A 



EULOGY 



LIFE, CHARACTER AND SERVICES, 



GENERAL ALEX. E. LAWTOK 



SAVANNAH, GA. 

GEO. N. NICHOLS' STEAM POWER PRESSES. 

1871. 






\ 



A- 



V* 



v» 






RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS 



GENERAL ROBERT EDWARD LEE expired at 
Lexington, Virginia, at half after 9 o'clock, on the 
morning of the 12th October, 1870. The intelligence 
of his death was received at Savannah, at 8-| o'clock 
in the evening of the same day, and spread with 
rapidity throughout the community, producing uni- 
versal and profound sorrow. 

The painful event was announced at the several 
places of amusement open that evening ; the perform- 
ances were immediately discontinued and the people 
retired in silence, returning with saddened hearts to 
their homes. 

The City Council was in session, and the dispatch 
which brought the tidings of our great bereavement 
was communicated to the Board by the Honorable the 
Mayor. The business of the meeting was instantly ar- 
rested. Aldermen Davidson, Haywood and Solomons 
were appointed a Committee to prepare and report 
resolutions appropriate to the distressing occasion, and 
Council adjourned to meet the ensuing morning, at 8 
o'clock. 

The Report and Resolutions adopted at the adjourn- 
ed meeting on the 13th instant are embraced in the 
following Proclamation by his Honor, the Mayor : 



PROCEEDINGS AT SAVANNAH 



PROCLAMATION. 



Mayoralty of Savannah, 
October 14th, 1870. 



[Extract from Minutes of Council, October 13,' 1870.] 

RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED. 

The City Council of Savannah, as a body, and indi- 
vidually, have heard with profound grief of the death 
of General ROBERT E. LEE — a man whose fame be- 
longs to the world, and whose virtues, whilst he lived, 
and whose memory, now that he is dead, must be 
cherished in fond recollection, without respect to na- 
tion or kindred. To that memory it is due that solemn 
public and private honors be paid. To that end, 
therefore, the City Council of Savannah do 

Resolve, That the members of this body have heard, 
with the greatest sorrow, of the death of that eminent 
soldier and patriot, General Robert E. Lee, and that 
they cherish with lively emotions of respect and vener- 
ation the character and virtues of one so noble, so 
brave, so virtuous. 

Resolved, That as a testimonial of respect for the 
honored dead, the bells of the City be tolled during 
the entire day of General Lee's interment, and that 
the citizens of Savannah be requested to close their 
places of business during the same time. 

Resolved, That his Honor, the Mayor, is hereby re- 
quested to call a public meeting of the citizens for the 



IN" MEMOEY OF GENERAL LEE. 



purpose of taking further steps to do honor to the 
memory of General Lee. 

Pursuant to the foregoing resolutions, passed by the 
City Council on the 13th instant, I do hereby order the 
bells of the Exchange and at the Police Barracks to 
be tolled during to-morrow, (Saturday) the 15th inst., 
from six (6) o' clock in the morning, to six (6) o' clock 
in the evening ; and respectfully request the Ministers 
of the various Religious Congregations in the City to 
cause the bells of their respective Churches to be tolled 
between the hours named above, the stroke of the bells 
to be at intervals of fifteen (15) minutes. 

And I do further respectfully request the citizens to 
close their places of business during to-morrow (Sat- 
urday), the 15th instant, and to meet in public assem- 
blage, in the Long Room of the Exchange, at twelve 
(12) o'clock Meridian, for the purpose of adopting 
other measures in honor of the memory of General 
Robert Edwakd Lee. 

And I do further, also, order all the offices of the 
City to be closed during to-morrow, the 15th instant. 

[l. s.] Given under my official signature, and the 
Corporate Seal of the City of Savannah, this 
Fourteenth day of October, Eighteen Hun- 
dred and Seventy. 

JOHN SCREVEN, Mayor. 

Attest : James Stewaet, Clerk of Council. 

It was ordered, also, by resolution, "That the 
Council Chamber, and the Staves of the Police Court, 
be draped in mourning for the space of thirty days. 



The Wardens and Vestrymen of Christ Church were 
convened on the 13th instant and adopted the follow- 
ing resolutions : 



PROCEEDINGS AT SAVANNAH 



Christ Church Vestry Room, ) 
Savannah, Ga., October 13, 1870. j 

At a meeting of the Wardens and Vestrymen of 
Christ Church, Savannah, Georgia, held this day, it 
was unanimously 

Resolved, That in the death of General Robert E. 
Lee, we recognize the inscrutable will of Almighty 
God, and reverently and submissively bow to the 
affliction with which he has seen fit to visit us. As a 
communicant of the Church, we feel that in his death 
we have lost a worthy member, and all of us a shining 
example. 

Resolved, That in the absence of the Rector, the 
Bishop of the Diocese be requested to have appropri- 
ate Church services on the day of his burial, between 
the hours of eleven and twelve o'clock. 

Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be fur- 
nished the Bishop, that they be published in the morn- 
ing papers of our city, and that the public be invited 
to join in the services. The pews will be free on the 
occasion. 

Extract from the Minutes. 

W. W. LINCOLN, Secretary. 



Saturday, the 15th of October, the day set apart for 
the obsequies of General Lee at Lexington, was ob- 
served in strict accordance with the Proclamation of 
his Honor, the Mayor. The bells were tolled from 6 
o'clock in the morning to 6 o'clock in the evening, 
"The trappings and the suits of woe" were visible 
everywhere. The edifices of the Corporation, the 
houses and halls of the Fire Engine Companies, the 
hotels, the offices of the public journals, places of 
business and private residences, all were draped with 



IN" MEMORY OF GENERAL LEE. 



mourning. The people abandoned their secular pur- 
suits and dedicated the day wholly and solemnly to 
the memory of the good and great man they mourned. 

At 11 o'clock the Right Reverend John W. Beck- 
with, D.D., assisted by the Reverend Thomas C. 
Stanley, conducted a Memorial Service at Christ 
Church, in accordance with the action of the Wardens 
and Vestrymen on the 13th instant. The Ritual 
arranged for the occasion was in perfect harmony with 
the mournful circumstances of the day, of the very 
hour itself. Few, very few, among the worshippers at 
Christ Church that day will forget its deep solemnity ; 
its singular impressiveness, in unison as it was with 
the feelings which agitated every heart. 

Equally well remembered will be the effective ad- 
dress of the distinguished Prelate. Before concluding 
the services he said : 

He had understood that a general desire had been 
expressed that he should make some remarks touching 
the life and character of the deceased. He regretted 
this, for the reason that silence seemed to him the most 
proper. One who, for ten years, had attracted the at- 
tention of the civilized world, and won both its admi- 
ration and respect, had passed away. He was not 
only a leader of men, but a leader in our Israel. In 
the penitential prayers of that litany which he loved 
to use in the days of his own trial and sorrow, he had 
prayed so to live that when life ended he might ' 'die the 
death of the righteous, and that his last end might be 
like his." This seemed to the speaker enough, but, as 
more was expected, he desired to impress upon the 
minds of the men of Savannah, and especially its 
young men, the fact that the chief glory of this great 
man was his child-like faith. He was a model for the 
young men of the South, fulfilling nobly his duty in 
every station of life to which he was called. He re- 
marked upon the striking fact that every class of the 



PEOCEEDINGS AT SAVANNAH 



community seemed to be affected by General Lee's 
death: the soldier, the citizen, the gentleman, the 
christian — all deplored the event and felt the loss. He 
would impress upon the minds of his youthful hearers 
that the perfection of General Lee' s character was due 
to his unwavering faith in his Saviour. He was a man 
superbly manly, and his character was a refutation of 
the rationalistic fancy that religion was a thing for 
women and children. It was the very crown of his 
manliness. Great as he was among men, and mighty 
in war, he considered it a privilege to come and kneel 
at this altar, acknowledge the Superior Power above 
him, plead his dependence, and stretch out his hand 
for its support. If the young men of the South would 
make him their model, they must lay the foundation 
which supported and strengthened his character — an 
humble, earnest piety. The Bishop then alluded to 
the blessedness of such a death as his, and asked, how 
precious, beyond all things, to him now, was that 
christian life % He spoke of the manner in which Gen- 
eral Lee had exhibited his piety since the war — how 
patiently and unmurmuringly he had submitted to 
personal and national sorrows which were breaking 
his great heart ; how steadfast had been his faith, and 
with what christian meekness he had endured his 
griefs and been silent. 

After the benediction, the large congregation quietly 
and sadly dispersed, the male portion of it to the pub- 
lic meeting at the Exchange. 



At 12 M. the citizens assembled in the hall of the 
Exchange. On motion of Captain John McMahon, 
the Chief Magistrate of the City, the Honorable John 
Screven, was called to the chair, and James Stewart, 
Esq., appointed Secretary. 



IN MEMORY OF GENERAL LEE. 



The hall was densely crowded, and the assemblage 
of citizens without, seeking admission, was immense, 
insomuch that the meeting adjourned to Johnson 
Square. The proceedings were thus reported in the 
journals of the City : 

The resolutions adopted at the last meeting of 
Council, together with the Proclamation of the Mayor, 
were read by the Secretary, when General A. R. Law- 
ton moved that a Committee of thirteen be appointed 
by the Chair to prepare business for the meeting. On 
the adoption of the motion, the Chair announced the 
following Committee: General A. R. Lawton, Chair- 
man ; General Joseph E. Johnston, Commodore Josiah 
Tattnall, General H. C. Wayne, Hon. E. C. Anderson, 
Hon. R. D. Arnold, Hon. Wm. B. Fleming, Wm. 
Hunter, Esq., Hon. Solomon Cohen, General G. Mox- 
ley Sorrel, Hon. E. J. Harden, General Henry R. 
Jackson, and Colonel R. A. Wayne. 

After a brief interval the Honorable Chairman an- 
nounced that the Committee were ready to report, and 
General Lawton, as Chairman, addressed the people 
in substance as follows : 

Mr. Chairman : The vast concourse here assembled 
warns the Committee that more was expected of thpm 
than is consistent with the solemn occasion. We are 
here at the very hour of the burial of our illustrious 
friend, and find our grief can bear no expression. We 
must, therefore, submit to it in silence. Your Com- 
mittee present the following report : 

Your Committee can find in the ordinary form of 
resolutions no adequate expression for the profound 
sorrow which oppresses the hearts of our people. 
Upon this, the burial day of General Lee, this grief 
can only be voiceless as the solemn procession which 
follows his remains to the grave. Feeling, however, 
that upon some future occasion a general demonstra- 



10 PROCEEDINGS AT SAVANNAH 

tion should be made in consonance with the love and 
admiration so long and so deeply cherished by this 
entire community for the virtue, and the memory of 
the illustrious dead, they recommend the adoption of 
the following : 

JZesolved, That the Chairman of this meeting ap- 
point a Committee of fifteen citizens to make suitable 
arrangements and select a proper person to deliver a 
eulogy on the life, character and services of the de- 
ceased, at such time and place as said Committee may 
appoint. 

jResolved, That a copy of the proceedings of this 
meeting and of the City Council of Savannah on the 
occasion of General Lee' s death be enclosed, by his 
Honor the Mayor, to Mrs. Lee, with the expression of 
the sympathy of our entire community on the melan- 
choly occasion. 

Pending the adoption of the report, at the sugges- 
tion of Alderman Nichols, General Henry R. Jackson 
was requested to address the meeting. 

With evident feeling and in his most impressive 
manner, the General said : 

Mr. Chairman : I can conceive that there have 
been, nay sir, that there are, speakers competent to 
meet the requirements of an occasion like this. I, sir, 
am not of that number. Poets innumerable have sung 
of the Pleiad lost from the sky, but he must indeed 
have bsen a bold master who could have struck his 
lyre in the first darkening of universal nature. Poets 
may sing and orators speak to the memory of a great 
sorrow, but in its birth that sorrow must speak for 
itself. The tolling of bells, the hush of business, the 
silence of this vast concourse are the true eloquence of 
an occasion like this. I will not mar it by the utter- 
ance of impotent words." 



IN MEMOEY OF GENEEAL LEE. 11 



General Joseph E. Johnston was then called for by 
the meeting and said : 

My Friends: As I was one of General Lee's 
early friends it is natural that you should wish me to 
say something on this melancholy occasion. But 
when the orators upon whom you have called confess 
themselves unable to speak, I am sure that you will 
excuse me too, who am not only unused to address 
public assemblies, but share very deeply the emotions 
inspired by the occasion. A great and good man has 
died, and no words can express the sorrow I feel for 
the event. 

The report and resolutions were adopted unani- 
mously. 

In compliance with the first resolution the Honorable 
Chairman announced the following Committee of Ar- 
rangements, &c: R. N. Gourdin, Esq., Colonel C. H. 
01 instead, Colonel R. J. Davant, Jr., Alfred Hay- 
wood, Esq., Colonel A. M. Sloan, Captain George A. 
Mercer, General Robert H. Anderson, Dr. J. M. 
Schley, Colonel John L. Villalonga, J. D. Hopkins, 
Esq., Colonel William M. Wadley, Hon. William 
Schley, Captain John McMahon, Gilbert Butler, Esq., 
Henry Lathrop, Esq. 

Judge Harden then moved that Council be request- 
ed to purchase a life size portrait of General Lee to 
hang in the Council Chamber. The motion was 
seconded and carried unanimously, after which the 
meeting adjourned. 



12 PROCEEDINGS AT SAVANNAH 



On the 16th November the Honorable John Screven 
made the following communication to the public : 



GENERAL R. E. LEE. 



Eeport of Proceedings of the Committee appointed by the 

Meeting of Citizens held on the 15th day of October, 

1870, in Memory of General Eobert E. Lee. 



Mayoralty of Savannah, i 

November 15th, 1870. ) 

Fellow Citizens : 

I have the honor to lay before you the following 
report of the proceedings of the Committee of Fifteen, 
appointed at the meeting of Citizens, convened on the 
15th of October, 1870, in honor of the memory of Gen- 
eral Robert E. Lee. 

JOHN SCREVEN, Mayor. 



Savannah, November 14th, 1870. 

To the Honorable John Screven, 

Mayor of the City of Savannah : 

Sir : The undersigned, the Committee appointed by 
your nonor under a resolution adopted at the public 
meeting which assembled in Johnson Square, on the 



IN" MEMOKY OF GENERAL LEE. 13 

15th ultimo, with instructions ' ' to make suitable ar- 
rangements, and select a proper person to deliver a 
Eulogy on the life, character and services of the late 
General Robert E. Lee, at such time and place as 
said Committee may appoint," beg respectfully to re- 
port through you to the community : 

That the Eulogy will be pronounced by General A. 
R. Lawton, on the 19th day of January next, the 
birth-day of the lamented dead. 

That General R. H. Anderson, Colonel C. H. Olm- 
stead, Colonel R. J. Davant, Captain George A. Mer- 
cer and Captain John McMahon constitute a Commit- 
tee, charged with the selection and preparation of a 
place suitable for the delivery of the Eulogy, with the 
arrangement of a procession and other ceremonies 
befitting the solemn and mournful occasion, and with 
all other matters and details connected therewith. 

That the order of the proceedings for the 19th Janu- 
ary will be duly announced in the journals of the city. 

The Committee would respectfully recommend to 
your favorable consideration the following resolution 
adopted by them : 

Resolved, That his Honor the Mayor be requested 
to correspond with the Chief Magistrates of the cities 
of the South, inviting their co-operation in an effort to 
establish the birth-day of General Lee as a Memorial 
Day, to be kept and revered hereafter by us and our 
children, on which, year by year, we may have held 
up before us the spotless character of the Christian 
hero. 

They beg further to report that Colonel C. H. 01m- 
stead, Captain George A. Mercer and John D. Hop- 
kins, Esq., have been appointed a Committee to aid 



14 



PROCEEDINGS AT SAVANNAH 



your Honor in carrying the foregoing resolution into 
effect. 
All which is very respectfully submitted. 

ROBERT N. GOURDJN, Chairman, 

C. H. OLMSTEAD, 

R. J. DAY ANT, 

ALFRED HAYWOOD, 

A. M. SLOAN, 

GEORGE A. MERCER, 

R. H. ANDERSON, 

JAMES M. SCHLEY, 

JOHN L. YILLALONGA, 

JOHN D. HOPKINS, 

•WM. M. WADLEY, 

WM. SCHLEY, 

JOHN MoMAHON, 

GILBERT BUTLER, 

HENRY LATHROP, 

Committee. 



IN" MEMORY OF GENERAL LEE. 15 

The journals of the 13th January announced the fol- 
lowing Order of Arrangements for the 29th instant : 



ORDER OF ARRANGEMENTS 

FOR THE 

NINETEENTH DAY OF JANUAEY, 

Dedicated by the People of Savannah to the Memory of the late 
GENERAL ROBERT E. X-.EE. 



In obedience to the feelings of this community, a 
Eulogy will be pronounced on the Life, Character and 
Services of General Lee, by General A. R. Lawton, 
in the Theatre, at 12^ P. M., on Thursday, the 19th 
instant. 

A procession, commanded by General Joseph E. 
Johnston, assisted by k 

Gen. Mansfield Lovell, Gen. Joseph Finegan, 

Gen. J. F. Gilmer, Gen. W. W. Kirkland, 

Gen. H. R. Jackson, Gen. G. M. Sorrel, 

Gen. A. H. Colquitt, Gen. R. H. Anderson, 
Gen. H. C. Wayne, 
each attended by two Staff Officers, (and all mounted, ) 
will belformed in the following order, at 11 o'clock A. 
M., on South Broad street, the right resting on Dray- 
ton street : 

1st. The Washington Cornet Band. 

2d. The Police Force of the City. 

3d. The Hon. the Mayor and Aldermen, attended 
by Municipal Officers. 

4th. The Orator, escorted by the Committee of Ar- 
rangements. 

5th. Commodore Tattnall and Staff. 



16 PKOCEEDINGS AT SAVANNAH 

6th. The Reverend the Clergy of all Denominations. 

7th. Foreign Consuls and Strangers. 

8th. The Members of the Press. 

9th. The Officers, Soldiers and Seamen of the late 
Confederate Army and Navy. 

10th. Benevolent, Friendly and Literary Societies. 

11th. Citizens not members of particular Organiza- 
tions. 

12th. The Officers and Crews of Vessels in Port. 

13th. The Saxe-Horn Band. 

14th. The Fire Companies in uniform (without En- 
gines and Apparatus,) under direction of the Officers 
of the Department. 

The Professions, Societies, Companies, Parties, &c, 
named in this Programme are very respectfully^ nvited 
to occupy the places assigned them in the Procession, 
and assist in the solemnities of the day. 

To facilitate the arrangement of the Procession it is 
requested 

That "The Reverend the Clergy," "Foreign Consuls 
and Strangers," " Members of the Press," and " Citi- 
zens not members of particular organizations," will 
assemble in their respective bodies on the pavement 
on the south side of South Broad street, between Bull 
and Drayton streets, at 10£ o'clock precisely. 

That "The Officers, Soldiers and Seamen of the late 
Confederate Army and Navy" will assemble at the 
same hour in the Eastern Division of Wright ^Court 
House) square, be organized by the senior officer 
present, and marched by him by the east walk of Bull 
street to South Broad street, and halted when the head 
of the column arrives there. 

That "The several Benevolent, Friendly and Liter- 
ary Societies" will move from their respective Halls to 
South Broad street, by 10£ o'clock, and occupy the 
pavement on the north side, between Bull and Dray- 
ton streets. 



IN" MEMORY OF GENERAL LEE. 17 

That "The Officers and Crews of Vessels in Port" 
will assemble in the West Division of Wright (Court 
House) square, and be prepared to move at 10 J o'clock. 
An officer will be detailed to conduct them into line. 

That "The Chief of the Fire Department" will form 
his command under the trees in South Broad street, 
his right resting on Barnard street. 

The Procession will move down Drayton to Congress 
street, through Congress to Whitaker street, up Whit- 
aker to Liberty street, down Liberty to Bull street, 
and through Bull street to the Theatre. 

The Dress Circle of the Theatre will be reserved ex- 
clusively for the ladies, who are requested to assemble 
in time to be seated before the Procession arrives. A 
Committee will be in attendance to conduct ladies to 
seats. The doors will be opened for their admission 
at 11^ o' clock precisely. 

The Honorable the Mayor and Aldermen, the Rev- 
erend the Clergy, Commodore Tattnall and Staff, For- 
eign Consuls, General Johnston, his Assistant Gen- 
erals, and their respective Staffs, Members of the 
Press, and the Committee of Arrangements will occupy 
seats on the stage. 

The rest of the Procession will be accommodated in 
the Pit and Galleries. 

Except for the admission of ladies, the doors will 
not be opened until the Procession arrives and is ready 
to enter the Theatre. 

The Exchange Bell and the Bells of the several 
Churches will be tolled from 11 o'clock A. M. until 
the Procession enters the Theatre. 

Captains of Vessels in Port are requested to display 
'their colors at half-mast during the day. 

It is respectfully requested that all places of busi- 
ness will be closed at and after 10* o'clock A. M. 



18 PKOCEEDLNTGS AT SAVANNAH 



Programme of Proceedings at the Theatre. 

Prayer — By the Reverend I. S. K. jAxson, D.D. 

Chorus — "All men, all things, all that has life and 
breath, sing to the Lord" — Mendelssohn. 
By Volunteer Chorus. 

Dirge — Composed in Honor of General Lee — Millen. 
By Washington Cornet Band. 

EULOGY. 

Chorus — "Happy and Blest are they who have en- 
dured" — Mendelssohn's St. Paul. By 
Volunteer Choir. 

Prayer and Benediction — By the Reverend J. M. 
Mitchell, D.D. 

ROBERT N. GOURDIN, 

Chairman of Committee. 

R. H. ANDERSON, 

Chairman Sub-Committee. 



IN" MEMORY OF GENERAL LEE. 19 

The apprehension was expressed that the honors 
about to be paid to the memory of General Lee had 
been deferred to too late a period ; that time had 
assuaged the grief, and the intensity of the public feel- 
ing evoked at the moment of his death. But the in- 
terest with which the "Order of Arrangements" was 
received by the community indicated that this fear was 
unfounded. Subsequent events demonstrated that it 
was. 

The morning of the 19th January dawned with 
auspicious brightness on our fair city. There were 
evidences everywhere, at an early hour, that the heart 
of the people was in unison with the solemnities to 
which the day had been dedicated. The city wore 
again the habiliments of mourning ; people on the 
streets, of all classes, were sedate and grave ; 
places of business were closed at the hour pre- 
scribed, and the people repaired to the appointed place 
of assembly to take the part assigned them in the cere- 
monies of the occasion. No discontents, no haltings 
were visible anywhere, or in any one ; the duty of the 
day was to do honor to the memory of one very precious 
in our affections ; it was a duty very grateful to all, 
and self was forgotten in the offices of reverence and 
love. 

At 11 o'clock the tolling of the bells announced the 
hour for the arrangement of the Procession. At half 
after 11 the formation was completed, under the direc- 
tion of General Robert H. Anderson, acting Marshal. 

At this juncture a change in the "Order of Arrange- 
ments" became necessary. A messenger from the 
Theatre reported the building already over-crowded 
with ladies, and a large concourse, still without, seek- 
ing admission. There was, to be accommodated also, 
the Procession, stretching along South Broad, from 
Drayton beyond Barnard Street, numbering some two 
thousand men, and the people, besides, hanging about 



20 PROCEEDINGS AT SAVANNAH 

it, and on the streets. It was determined to abandon 
the Theatre and repair to Forsyth Park. 

The expediency of the change was universally re- 
cognized, and when announced at the Theatre, the 
people and the "Volunteer Choir," assembled there, 
adjourned with cheerfulness to the Park. 

Presently a great shout (the only sound heard in 
the city that day, save the solemn tolling of bells and 
strains of music to which the Procession moved,) an- 
nounced the appearance of General Johnston, attended 
by the distinguished officers mentioned in the "Order 
of Arrangements." Passing up the line, amidst en- 
thusiastic and continued demonstrations of honor and 
affection, General Johnston took his position at the 
head of the Procession. Conducted by him, the Pro- 
cession then moved by the streets designated, to Bull, 
and by Bull ■ to the Park, and entering by the main 
Northern gate, approached the stand from which the 
Eulogy was to be delivered. 

Through the energy of Colonel Olmstead, in 
charge of the arrangements at the Theatre, the stand, 
notwithstanding the briefness of the notice, was pre- 
pared, and ready when the Procession arrived in the 
Park; the "Volunteer Choir" was established in a 
suitable position in front of the stand, and the large 
concourse of people disposed around. 

The Orator, accompanied by the officiating clergy- 
men, the Honorable the Mayor, and Chairman of the 
Committee of Arrangements, and by General Johnston 
and Staff, was conducted to the stand, and the Proces- 
sion was arranged in the grounds around. 

The proceedings, with a slight exception to be 
noticed presently, were in accordance 'with the Pro- 
gramme announced for the Theatre. 

That great gathering of people in Forsyth Park, 
larger than any ever before known in Savannah, was 
very soon silent and still, when the Reverend Dr. 
Axson rose, and in fervent prayer to the Throne of 



IN" MEMOKY OF GENERAL LEE. 21 

Grace implored the Divine Blessing on onr city and 
people and on their proceedings that day. 

Mendelssohn's impressive Chorus had been sung 
with effect, the Dirge was performed by the Band and 
the Eulogist appeared before his audience. It would 
be needless, if it was within the scope of this 
Record, to speak of the discourse pronounced by 
General Lawton. His fellow-citizens have stamped 
upon it the seal of their high approval ; it is now the 
abiding record of their veneration for the lamented 
Lee. 

The feeling which pervaded that vast assembly, 
"numbering some eight thousand souls, was visible in 
its demeanor. It stood (for but few were seated) for 
full one hour and a half with attention fixed, steadfast- 
ly, on the Eulogist, absorbing each word and sentence 
which fell from his lips ; excited and deeply moved, 
no loud applause (in discord with the solemnity of the 
occasion) rent the air ; the theme of the speaker was 
sacred with his audience, and silence, profound, reigned 
throughout it. 

But an incident was at hand to break this silence, 
and impress upon the scene the still deeper solemnity 
of a religious service. The task of the Eulogist was 
finished. It was announced that the Doxology would 
be sung in place of the Anthem appointed, and the 
audience was invited to unite in it with the Choir. 
Then the long suppressed feeling of the people had 
utterance, breaking forth in thanksgiving and praise 
to the Universal Father, the Giver of all good, and — 

"Praise God, from whom all blessings {low, 
Praise Him, all creatures here below ; 
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host ; 
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost" — 

ascended to Heaven in one grand, solemn strain from 
hundreds of hearts and tongues. 



22 PROCEEDINGS AT SAVANNAH 

The Reverend Dr. Mitchell concluded the ceremo- 
nies and services of the day with prayer, and a bene- 
diction : 

"Almighty God, with whom do live the spirits of 
those who depart hence in the Lord, and with whom 
the souls of the faithful, after they are delivered from 
the burden of the flesh, are in joy and felicity ; We 
give thee hearty thanks for the good examples of all 
those thy servants, who, having finished their course 
in faith, do row rest from their labors. And we 
beseech thee, that we, with all those who are departed 
in the true faith of thy holy Name, may have our per- 
fect consummation and bliss, both in body and soul, 
in thy eternal and everlasting glory ; through Jesus 
Christ our Lord. Amen.-' 

1 ' Almighty and everlasting God, who dost govern all 
things in heaven and earth ; Mercifully hear the sup- 
plications of thy people, and grant us thy peace all 
the days of our life ; through Jesus Christ our Lord. 
Amen.' 1 '' 

' ' The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of 
God, and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost, be with 
us all evermore. Amen." 

Thus closed the day dedicated to" the memory of 
Robert Edward Lee. It was kept as a Sabbath 
day. No noisy demonstrations, no pageantry marked 
its observances ; they were simple, without ostentation 
or parade, the unaffected expression of a people' s grief. 



IN MEMORY OF GENERAL LEE. 23 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



SAVANNAH, 21st January, 1871. 
General A. R. Lawton, 
My Dear Sir: 

I am instructed by the Committee of Arrangements to 
solicit for publication the Eulogy on the " Life, Character and 
Services of the late General Robert E. Lee," pronounced by you 
before the people of Savannah, assembled in Forsyth Park, on 
Thursday, the 19th inst. In complying ^th this request, you will 
respond to the wishes of the community. 

Permit me to avail of this occasion to thank you, on behalf of 
the Committee, for the able and acceptable manner the duty im- 
posed on you, through them, was discharged. 
I am, my Dear" Sir, 

With high respect and regard, 
Yours, Very Truly, 

ROBERT N. GOURDIN, 
Chairman of Committee, &c. , &c. 



SAVANNAH, 26th January, 1871. 
Robert N. Gourdin, Esq., 

Chairman, &c. 
My Dear Sir: 

Your note of the 21st inst. was left at my office while 
I was temporarily absent from the city, and you will please pardon 
the delay in replying. 

The Eulogy delivered by me, on the 19th inst., on the "Life and 
Character of General Lee," was prepared only to be spoken; and 
not with a view to its publication. Had it been pronounced in a 
suitable building, (as intended,) where all who were present could 
hear, I would have asked leave to adhere to a rule which I pre- 
scribed for myself long since— not to print that which was intended 
only for a present audience. But as circumstances, arising at the last 
moment, compelled the delivery of the address in the open air, I 
cannot refuse to comply with the wishes of the Committee, so 
kindly expressed in your note. 
The manuscript is at your service. 

With sincere regard, 

I am, Very Truly Yours, 

A. R. LAWTON. 



24 PEOCEEDINGS AT" SAVANNAH 



EULOGY. 



Nearly seventy-one years ago, in conformity with a 
resolution of the Congress of the United States, and a 
proclamation of the President — on the anniversary of 
the birthday of WAStfriisrGTON" — the people of every city, 
town, village and hamlet, assembled in public meet- 
ings, to testify their grief by suitable eulogies and 
public prayers, and render their heartfelt tribute of 
affection for the memory of the Father of Ms country. 
The grief was universal, and the testimonials such as 
could be claimed by him, who had given existence to 
a young Republic, of free and happy people. All 
that was said and done on that solemn occasion, was 
under the sanction and connected with the organization 
of a powerful government, which he had been chiefly 
instrumental in creating. The great captain and states- 
man of the generation in which he lived, he died a con- 
queror in the field, and the successful founder of an 
empire. 

To-day, we meet to do homage to the memory 
of one, whose great struggles and trials in the 
field — with all his mighty efforts to accomplish what 
his and our hearts most desired — resulted in final dis- 
aster, and the surrender of the patriot armies which he 
led — who lived not to see any of the direct or mate- 
rial results accomplished to which these stupendous 
struggles were directed. With no government to an- 
nounce his death, and no organization to preserve his 
memory, we are here to-day, my friends, summoned 
only by the spontaneous impulses of our hearts, to 
mourn the loss, and commemorate the virtues of 



IN MEMOKY OF GENERAL LEE. 25 

Robert E. Lee. The entire people of this Southern 
land mourn him with a sorrow all the more touching, 
for the pathos there is in the fallen fortunes of the truly 
great and good, and with a measure of respect, admi- 
ration and gratitude, such as have never been evoked 
from any people under the sun. At the hour of his 
death, without power, without place, the chieftain of 
a lost cause, yet was he the most illustrious and beloved 
personage of the age in which he lived — upon whom 
dearest hopes were confidently fixed in times of fearful 
trial and suffering, and when hope was gone, confi- 
dence, respect and veneration remained, intensi- 
fied and illustrated by the utmost love and affec- 
tion of this entire land. Such is the result of the life 
and death of General Lee ; such is the spectacle pre- 
sented by this assemblage of a sorrowing people ! 

Why is this so ? What were the elements -of his 
character, and what the events of his life ; what had 
he done and suffered, which made him so truly great 
and good, and caused him to be respected, admired 
and beloved, beyond all other men of the century in 
which he lived % To find response to these enquiries, is 
the perilous task which your kindness has assigned 
me. While we must look to his own character, his 
own deeds, and his own virtues, for the true causes 
which combine to produce the results we now contem- 
plate, and place him far above the necessity of appeal- 
ing to heraldry or ancestry for his title to glory and 
renown, these influences are not to be disregarded; nor 
is the power of race to be lightly spoken of, even in 
the formation of such a sublime character as his. 

Descended from an old and prominent family in Eng- 
land, one of whom passed over the channel with William 
the Conqueror, and another as first Earl of Litchfield, 
at the head of his company of Cavaliers, accompanied 
Richard Cceur de Leon, in the third Crusade, their 
armor may be seen in its appropriate place in the 
Tower of London, and banners surmounted by the 



26 PROCEEDINGS AT SAVANNAH 

family arms found in the chapel at Windsor 
Palace. And from the settlement of Virginia to the 
present day, they have filled the highest offices, Colo- 
nial, State and Federal, in the Cabinet and in the field. 
But, perhaps, no one of this extraordinary family has 
given evidence of greater natural powers, or greater 
aptitude for public affairs, military and civil, than the 
immediate ancestor of General Lee, "Light Horse 
Harry" of the Revolution. Accustomed to think of him 
merely as the bold and dashing partisan leader, the 
favorite of Washington, the great support of Greene, we 
too Often forget that he was also a consummate orator, 
and endowed with the most exquisite classical taste. 
His letters to his oldest son are full of the most beauti- 
ful classical allusions ; and in one of them he discuss- 
ed like a master, the sublime doctrine of the Immor- 
tality of the Soul. But above all did he inculcate 
truth and self-command upon his children. 

AVith such an ancestry, and such a father, Robert 
E. Lee was born 19th January, 1807, at Stratford, in 
Westmoreland county, Virginia — the birth-place of 
many of the most distinguished men of that State. 
As he lost his father when he was but eleven years of 
age, his boyhood was passed under the influence and 
in the society of a tender mother. In due time he en- 
tered the military academy at West Point, and gradu- 
ated in 1829, with the first honors of his class, and with 
a reputation so pure and stainless as to mark him for 
special honor in the future. Commissioned in the Corps 
of Engineers, the handsome young lieutenant promptly 
acquired such distinction as the quiet duties assigned 
to that branch of the army in time of peace rendered 
possible ; while his social qualities and manly graces 
made him a prime favorite in every circle in which he 
moved. At the age of twenty-five he was married to 
Mary Custis, the great-grand-daughter of Martha 
Washington. In quietness and peace, performing 
every official, social and domestic duty, he led such a 



IN MEMORY OF GENERAL LEE. 27 

life as his tastes affected and his duties permitted, un- 
observed and without ostentation, until the breaking 
out of the Mexican War in 1846. Assigned then to 
duty on General Scott's staff, in charge of the Engi- 
neer department, he had the first opportunity of dis- 
playing that marked capacity and matchless skill 
which afterwards culminated in the leader of the Con- 
federate armies. And here was exhibited that stern 
devotion to duty, that true genius, always equal 
to the emergency, that cheerful endurance of priva- 
tion and hardship, that modest gallantry, which placed 
him promptly in the foremost rank of his profession, 
and caused the finger of the army to be pointed at 
him as the man upon whom greatness had already set 
its seal — who must be called, in some emergency, 
to be the leader of the armies of the Republic. Three 
times breveted for distinguished services in Mexico, 
he returned home on the advent of peace to find him- 
self already famous — the distinguished commanding 
General having declared, in the most conspicuous 
manner, that the glorious and continued success which 
crowned the arms of the United States in Mexico was 
owing, in a large measure, to the skill, valor and un- 
daunted courage of Robert E. Lee. And even at that 
early day did General Scott announce, that it was his 
purpose to recommend Lee as his successor in the 
chief command, in the event of his death or inability 
to perform the duties of that high position. And yet 
his modesty was, if possible, more conspicuous than 
his reputation. Never elated, none could have learned 
from his conduct or conversation, that he had ever trod 
any other than the peaceful paths of social and domes- 
tic life. 

"After a short lapse of time he was assigned to the 
distinguished and responsible position of Superinten- 
dent of the military academy at West Point ; where 
he won for himself a reputation for administrative 
ability, firmness and courtesy in the discharge of duty, 



28 PKOCEEDINGS AT SAVANNAH 

and a capacity to meet all the exigencies of that 
peculiar government found only at West Point, 
of which any man might well have been proud. In a 
position so admirably adapted to his capacity, 
and within reach of all the refinements of social 
life, he might have remained during the residue 
of his days, for all that then appeared to the con- 
trary. But when new regiments were added to the 
army in 1855, it found him only a captain of engineers, 
though a colonel by brevet, and the distinction he had 
won entitled him to the commission which was then 
offered, of lieutenant colonel of cavalry. With the 
true instincts of a soldier, he could not refuse the pro- 
motion tendered ; though its acceptance involved a 
transfer from the social and domestic life he loved so 
well, to the life of a cavalry officer on the Indian fron- 
tier, far separated from home and friends. In cheer- 
ful and quiet discharge of these duties he was found, 
when those political troubles loomed up, and those 
events were about to transpire, which promptly elevated 
him from a position of comparative obscurity, to the 
very highest place among the most famous and re- 
nowned of the present century. 

Opposing theories of government, and antagonistic 
constructions placed upon the Constitution, had early 
divided the people of the United States into two great 
parties, and the war between them had been angry 
indeed for more than forty years — the advocates of cen- 
tralizing power, by the very possession of that power, 
first gradually, and then by rapid strides, gained upon 
those who struggled for the sovereignty of the States 
and the right of local self-government. Deaf to the 
admonitions of the fathers of the Constitution and to 
some of the mightiest arguments ever put forth in in- 
tellectual combat, this party, with an appetite for 
power, which "grew by what it fed on," pressed on 
to the climax, which was reached in the election of 
Abraham Lincoln in 1860. The States of the 



IN" MEMOKY OF GENERAL LEE. 29 

South, when the fundamental law as established 
by their fathers had been violated, seeing no 
hope of redress — the mere form of government had 
become destructive of the ends for which it was estab- 
lished — resolved, in the exercise of sovereign rights, to 
withdraw from the league into which they had entered 
in good faith. The States thus withdrawing were 
denied the right to "depart in peace," and on the first 
attempt at "coercion" by the Federal Government, the 
argument was. exhausted, and there was a resort to 
arms. 

Lee, a Virginian born and bred, all the traditions 
and glory of his ancestors, all the impulses of his 
noble heart, impelled him to share the fortunes and 
accept the fate of his native Commonwealth. An 
officer, 'tis true, of the Federal government, lent to 
that government by the State of Virginia ; and only 
so long as Virginia consented thereto. He had fought 
under its flag, and furnished his shining contribution 
to that track of glory left by the victorious march of 
its armies. Sad and painful indeed was the issue pre- 
sented, but he did not hesitate a moment to tread the 
path of duty ; and decided at once not to remain in a 
position where he could be called upon to raise his 
hand against his relatives, his children and his home, 
and the grand old Commonwealth, to which his alle- 
giance was due. He resigned his commission in the 
United States army (on the 20th of April 1861,) in a* 
letter full of sadness and pathos, and tendered his ser- 
vices to his own Virginia. Placed at once in chief 
command of the forces raised by that State, when Vir- 
ginia became one of the "Confederate States of Ameri- 
ca," he was transferred, with all these troops, to the ar- 
mies of the young Republic. He received the commis- 
sion of full General in the army of the Confederate 
States ; and the prestige of his name, and the opinions 
already formed of his wonderful capacity for military 
command, at once marked him for the confidence and 



30 PROCEEDINGS AT SAVANNAH 

the hopes of a gallant and struggling people. Insen- 
sibly to himself he stood up as one of those 

" Men on whose shoulders at a moment's warning 
The weight of weightiest interests was flung, 
Who in the conflict can not shrink, or pause 
Tho' for mere breath — and* still must lift their crests 
Knight like — and mid the clang and clash of blows, 
Gigantic hold their fame up with firm hands 
And a grand issue, grandly vindicate." 

He returned from the campaign in Western Virginia 
in 1861, bearing the heavy weight of defeat ; and un- 
appreciated by the people whom he had served. But 
no murmur escaped him, nor was any attempt made 
to shift the painful responsibility from his own shoul- 
ders to those of others. The service rendered in the 
autumn of that year, in organizing and fortifying, for 
the defence of the coast of South Carolina and Geor- 
gia, was of great importance. Recalled to Richmond 
in the spring of 1862, he became, for a short time, the 
military adviser of the executive government. And 
while cheerfully, and earnestly, in the discharge of 
duties, the most modest and least conspicuous which 
could attach to his rank, a severe wound deprived the 
Army of Northern Virginia of its distinguished com- 
mander ; and Gen. Lee was assigned to that position 
on the 3d of June. When he assumed the com- 
mand, he had had no connection whatever, by per- 
*sonal intercourse, or recent command, with the troops 
which composed that army. His military service thus 
far had excited no enthusiasm. On the contrary, the 
comparative obscurity to which the first fourteen 
months of the war had consigned him, caused some 
misgivings, and for a moment, whispers of discontent ; 
although the greatest respect was entertained for his 
person, his character, and the reputation he had long 
since acquired, in subordinate positions. 

The season for active operations was at hand. In- 
deed, the opposing forces were confronting each other 



IN MEMORY OF GENERAL LEE. 31 

at the moment of his assignment to the command ; and 
the fearful responsibility of the leadership of the great- 
est army in the Confederacy, (the first he had ever 
commanded in the field,) was thrust upon him almost 
in the very midst of battle. 

But all doubts were soon dispelled. Not a mo- 
ment's time was lost. The most active prepara- 
tions, the most thorough organization, the most 
complete plan of campaign, were definitely entered 
upon, as if "in the twinkling of an eye." And 
while McClellan was preparing for the grand move- 
ment, which was to place the stars and stripes above 
the Southern capitol, Lee waited not for the con- 
templated attack ; but decided himself to take the ini- 
tiative. With lightning speed he hurried the Army of 
the Valley to his assistance, concentrated around Rich- 
mond all the troops subject to his command, turned 
the flank of the Federal commander, and struck such 
a series of massive blows upon the well appointed 
hosts of McClellan as to drive him from his base of 
operations, and force him to seek the protection of his 
gnn-boats, far down the James River — giving to the 
"Seven Days' Fight," from Gaines' Mill to Malvern 
Hill, a place in the history of war among the most 
brilliant achievements of modern times, to General 
Lee a name and a rank among the great captains of 
the age, the fame of which soon filled both hemi- 
spheres, and to the patriots of this Southern land a feel- 
ing of hope and confidence, which served to encour- 
age and sustain them so long as their banner floated 
in the breeze. 

But the victories achieved in rapid succession from 
the 26th of June to the 1st of July, inclusive, which 
routed the army of McClellan, and displaced its com- 
mander, were but the beginning of this ever memora- 
ble campaign of 1862 — from Cold Harbor to Freder- 
icksburg. Only a few days are passed on the banks 
of the Chickahominy, in refreshing the shattered brig- 



32 PEOCEEDINGS AT SAVANNAH 

ades after these terrible conflicts, when another on- 
ward movement is in progress. Shall we follow him 
in that grand triumphal march, through Gordonsville 
and across the Potomac, feeling the strength of Gen. 
Pope and striking him a heavy blow at Slaughter 
Mountain, chastising him at Bristoe Station, and well 
nigh destroying his army in the bloody three days' 
of Second Manassas — putting to ignominious flight 
these mighty hosts and their boastful commander — 
striking one more blow at "Chantilly," and driving 
him into the fortifications around Washington, where 
he also was deprived of command % Shall we cross 
and recross the Potomac % follow him as he captures 
Harper' s Ferry, with its entire garrison and equipment, 
and confronting McClellan again (whore-appears upon 
the scene, a second time the favorite of his govern- 
ment,) with the Potomac in his rear, and nearly 
four times his numbers in his front, fought and won 
the battle of Sharpsburg ? 

Shall I tell you that he was even then not permit- 
ted to rest from his labors, but called to confront 
another army, and another "on to Richmond," and 
another commander at Fredericksburg, who was now 
to crush the great rebel leader? and yet the signal 
victory achieved by our arms in December, 1862, 
would have been one of the most brilliant in the 
history of war, had it not been for those which 
preceded and followed it, achieved by the same 
commander. We would fain linger along this track 
of glory, to contemplate some of those wonderful 
combinations and grand achievements, by which 
he produced such amazing results with such limited 
resources, in a space of time so incredibly short. But 
where shall I begin, and where would I end, in opening 
to your view a picture so sublime % — events of such 
transcendent interest, combats so grand in the action, 
and so mighty in the results ! 



IN" MEMORY OF GENERAL LEE. 33 

We all remember the Wilderness, and Spottsylvania, 
and second Cold Harbor, and the protracted siege of Pe- 
tersburg. But we may not dwell on the thrilling de- 
tails, the marches, the combats, the pitched battles — 
the solemn hour when battle is imminent, and the re- 
sponsibility of a whole life seems crowded into a mo- 
ment — when battalion after battalion is wheeled into 
line with the fearful silence of the grave ; until the roar 
of artillery announces that thousands must now hurl 
themselves to their death — nor upon the brighter and 
more exhilarating hour of triumph, when shouts of 
victory rend the air and gladden the heart of the 
anxious commander — nor upon the matchless skill 
and foresight, with which marches are conducted, 
positions selected and defended, the plans and move- 
ments of the enemy anticipated and thwarted ! and 
yet they constitute the life and services of General 
Lee. 

Exacting the most rigid discharge of duty from the 
highest, he was kind, encouraging, and even tender, to 
the humblest, who performed well the part assigned 
him ; the grand central figure of all, he was sublime 
in dignity and simplicity ; secure in the love of those 
who went cheering at his bidding to do or die, he 
needed none of that ostentatious display, so often 
craved even by the most distinguished military chief- 
tains. While in careful preservation of all the re- 
sources at command, in preparations for the hour of 
trial, in the prompt handling of troops in action — 
changing plans to meet the exigencies of the hour — he 
exhibited that capacity which won for him the confi- 
dence and the love of the army he commanded, of the 
government and people he served ; and accomplished 
results, which, by the confession of all military critics,^ 
and the impulsive voice of the civilized world, placed 
him in the first rank among the great captains of mod- 
ern times. 



34 PEOCEEDINGS AT SAVANNAH 

Let it not be suggested that this is extravagant 
praise of a military leader, who finally failed to achieve 
the material results for which he fought. For be it re- 
membered that this has been the fate of not a few of 
the most illustrious men who have ever led battalions 
to victory ; or achieved that military renown which en- 
titled them to the brightest page in history. That he 
who is without a peer in the science and practice of 
war, and stands forth in modern history without a 
competitor for the glittering prize, died a captive and 
a prisoner at St. Helena ! 

To pass judgment on the results of General Lee's 
campaigns, we must compare the resources, in men, 
material and organization, of the two governments 
which sent the opposing armies to the field. He 
fought against a government of resources practically 
without limit ; with a population of its own so large, 
that there would seem to have been no call for added 
numbers from abroad. In diplomatic and commercial 
communication with all the world — with trade, com- 
merce and material for war, scarcely inferior to any — 
and yet in a condition to draw men, money and mate- 
rial from all. He fought for a government in the very 
act of its first organization, and unrecognized by all 
other nations of the earth — of small population — 
chiefly agricultural — drawing its manufactured sup- 
plies from the very country against which it fought. 
Its ports blockaded against supplies from abroad ; 
even the material necessary for ordnance and transpor- 
tation, were not to be found within its limits in any ap- 
preciable quantity ; and during the last two years 
of the war, the rations of the men, and the forage of 
the horses of his army, had to be transported by land 
from sources of supply five to eight hundred miles 
distant from the field of operations — and if the track 
of the intermediate railway, or the locomotive which 
passed over it, were even temporarily destroyed by 
the raids of the enemy, there was no material within 



IK MEMORY OF GENERAL LEE. 



35 



the limits of the Confederacy to replace what was lost 
— a condition of things never known before in the his- 
tory of war ; and the existence of which, as applicable 
to him, would have startled from his propriety the 
greatest military commander in Europe ! Scarce of 
every thing, and with every thing of inferior quality, 
(except the noble patriot army that followed his ban- 
ner,) he must, with painful caution, survey his re- 
sources, before undertaking any great movement. 

Nothing in our condition has so surprised and con- 
founded the intelligent observer in Europe. An Eng- 
lish gentleman of large and varied experience, of high 
culture and social position, once said toa Confederate 
General : " There are some things about your remark- 
able war which we can understand, and some which 
we cannot. We can understand how one man may 
drive two or even three before him, under the tremen- 
dous impulse of daring and patriotism ; and that 
masses of men, while under the influence of that elan 
which carried the Eagles of France so often to victory 
and to glory, and under the leadership and inspiration 
of a beloved, brilliant and enthusiastic commander, may 
achieve triumphs against fearful odds. But we cannot 
understand how one railway, one bar of iron, one loco- 
motive, one horse, has been made to do the work of 
four. How, in articles of prime necessity, you are able 
to duplicate and even quadruple in the use, every unit 
in possession." And yet General Lee and his associ- 
ate commanders were brought face to face with this 
problem ; and were compelled to solve it, while con- 
tendino- against armies that were supplied ad libitum 
with all these things. 

Even at this disadvantage, was the whole power 
of the United States foiled in its efforts to plant 
its standard on the capitol at Richmond, for four 
long years. And the army of General Lee stood 
proudly before it as an impassable obstacle — not re- 
moved, until he had first given battle against fearful 



36 



PKOCEEDIN'GS AT SAVA!N T N"AH 



odds to McClellan, to Pope, to McClellan again, to 
Burnside, to Hooker, to Meade, and to Grant, and in 
succession gained signal victories over them all— not 
until three years of unequal yet successful conflict on 
every field, had driven these vanquished hosts to prey 
upon the homes of the peaceful inhabitants (where 
his army could not protect them), and to consume the 
entire resources' of this Southern land — not until the 
mere weight of a succession of superior forces, and the 
continued effect of attrition, had produced the necessary 
physical result — not until there had been such de- 
struction of human life as to sink into insignificance 
the greatest wars ever known in Europe — not until 
he had placed beneath the sod in Virginia a number 
of the enemy's troops equal to the largest force ever 
put into action by Lee — not until this gallant, patient, 
matchless army, was reduced to the small remnant of 
8,000 men, did he yield to overwhelming numbers and 
resources ! 

And now we approach the closing scene of this event- 
ful and heroic struggle. At last the lines were drawn 
so closely around General Lee at Appomattox, that 
nothing could be accomplished by further resistance. 
Had he consulted his own feelings and personal pride, 
he would gladly have hurled even this little fragment 
of his noble army, in proud defiance against the hosts 
of Grant ; and relieved himself of the future by meet- 
ing a soldier' s death. But neither the instincts of man- 
hood, nor the calls of humanity, would permit him 
thus to trifle with life, when no further good was 
to be accomplished by the shedding of blood. Sur- 
render was inevitable, and he approached it with 
all the dignity and grandeur of his character. Such 
a scene has rarely ever been witnessed on earth ! 
Mark the deferential homage paid him even by 
the Federal soldiers, as with uncovered heads they 
contemplate the hero of a hundred battles, who 
had so often sent terror into their ranks, but now their 



IN" MEMOKY OF GENERAL LEE. 37 

captive ! His own war-worn, battle-scarred heroes, with 
quivering lip and tearful eye, admiring and loving 
their chieftain with more tenderness in this the hour 
of his adversity, than even when they had surround 
ed him with the shouts of victory. He bade them an 
affectionate farewell, in language full of dignity, sor- 
row, and pathos ; and surrendered his sword to the 
Federal commander. 

"Never a hand waved sword from stain so free, 
Nor purer sword led a braver band, 
Nor a braver bled for a brighter land, 
Nor a brighter land had a cause so grand, 
Nor a cause a Chief like Lee." 

Thus ended the military career of Robert E. Lee. 
And we challenge the annals of war to produce another 
so replete with glory and renown — so free from the 
stain of wrong or crime — so devoid of personal ambi- 
tion or self-seeking — so precious to the memory of 
those who followed his standard ! 

Again we ask, what was there which made him so 
truly great and good % which so concentrated upon him 
the most intense love and admiration, not only of his 
army, but of this entire people"? We may better illus- 
trate than define, that wonderful combination of quali- 
ties which produced such happy results. An inci- 
dent near Spottsylvania Court House tells us how in- 
expressibly dear to his soldiers the life of General Lee 
was, and how they would preserve it at all hazards — 
and tells us also how and why he won their hearts. 
The 12th of May, 1865, will be ever memorable for one 
of the most bloody and obstinate struggles in the 
annals of war. Scarcely had the grey tinge of morn- 
ing begun to dispel the darkness of a damp and driz- 
zly night, when, after three loud^ cheers had been 
given, known to be the precursor of a charge, and a 
brief scattering fire on the right of the line, was heard, 
our men were astonished and mortified to see troops 



38 PKOCEEDINGS AT SAVANNAH 

moving out of the works into the woods, in a direction 
which showed that the enemy had made a gap, and 
were pouring their concentrated masses through it — 
moving on our flank with great celerity, and driving 
all "before them, in panic and confusion. Gordon' s 
and Pegram's brigades were formed in an instant, in 
rear of and at right angles with the line of works. All 
saw that a fearful crisis was upon us. In this exi- 
gency General Lee rode forward in front of the line, 
and took position opposite the colors of the 49th Vir- 
ginia Regiment. Not a word did he utter, but simply 
took off his hat ; and as he sat on his charger, never 
was there a man so noble, or a spectacle so impressive. 
At this moment Georgia's gallant son, Gordon, seeing 
it was General Lee' s intention to lead the charge in 
person, seized the reins of his horse ; and, turning him 
entirely around, exclaimed : " General, these are Vir- 
ginians and Georgians; have they ever failed you?" 
" They never will ; will you, boys V Loud cries of 
" No ! no ! no !" " General Lee to the rear !" " Gen- 
eral Lee to the rear !" burst from the entire line, as with 
one voice : and, as one of the men forcibly led his 
horse back, Gordon gave the command : " Forward ! 
Charge!" With a shout and a yell they dash on, 
through bog and swamp, briars and undergrowth, 
until the breastworks are reached, and then the shouts 
of victory, "hurrah! hurrah! the works are ours!" 
Pardon another incident, given substantially as re- 
lated by a distinguished member of General Lee's 
staff.* When the final assault was made on the Fed- 
eral lines at Chancellorsville General Lee accompanied 
the troops in person, and as they emerged from the 
fierce combat they had waged in that tangled wilder- 
ness, driving the superior forces of the enemy before 
them, he rode into their midst. The troops were 
pressing forward in all the ardor and enthusiasm of 

*Colonel Marshall. 



IN" MEMOET OF GENEKAL LEE. 39 

combat. The white smoke of musketry fringed the 
line of battle, while the artillery on the hills shook the 
earth around. To add greater horror and sublimity to 
the scene, the Chancellorsville House, and the woods 
surrounding it, were rapt in flames. In the midst of 
this awful scene, General Lee rode to the front of his 
advancing battalions. His presence was the signal for 
one of those uncontrollable outbursts of enthusiasm, 
which none can appreciate who have not witnessed. 
One long unbroken cheer, in which the feeble cry of 
those who lay helpless on the earth, blended with the 
strong voices of those who still fought, rose high above 
the roar of battle, and hailed the presence of the vic- 
torious chief. He sat in the full realization of what 
soldiers dream of — triumph; and as I looked upon 
him, in the complete fruition of the success which his 
genius, courage, and confidence in his army had won, 
I thought it must have been from, some such scene that 
men, in ancient days, ascended to the dignity of the 
Gods. But at that moment, when the transports of . 
his troops were drowning the sound of battle with ac- 
clamations, a note was brought to him from General 
Jackson. Sitting on his horse, he handed it to me 
with directions to read it to him. The note made no 
mention of the wound which General Jackson had re- 
ceived, but congratulated General Lee upon the great 
victory. 1 shall never forget the look of pain and 
anguish that passed over his face, as he listened and 
thought of his wounded Lieutenant. With a voice 
broken with emotion he bade me say to General Jack- 
son, that the victory was his and the congratulations 
were due to him. I know not how others may regard 
this incident, but for myself, as I gave expression to 
the thoughts of his exalted mind, I forgot the genius 
that had won the day in my reverence for the gener- 
osity that refused its glory. 

One other incident will present the other side of the 
picture. On the 3d of July, 1863, the last assault of 



40 PEOCEEDHSTGS AT SAVANNAH 

the Confederate troops had been made on the heights 
of Gettysburg, and. failed. General Lee, in the midst 
of his baffled and shattered battalions, as they sullenly 
retired from the brave attempt, with the painful con- 
sciousness that his plans had been frustrated, and that 
defeat and humiliation had overtaken his army ; in the 
presence of his troops, openly assumed the entire re- 
sponsibility of the campaign, and of the last battle. 
One word from him would have relieved him from that 
responsibility ; but that word he refused to utter, until 
it could be spoken without fear of doing the least in- 
justice. Thus in the supreme moment of triumph and 
the saddest hour of defeat, with a degree of self-abne- 
gation, of which history furnishes no example, he rose 
high above the one, and superior to the other. Is it 
surprising that he so possessed the love and confidence 
of his troops, that one word from him could at any 
moment hurl them to their death ? 

Even in the sad condition in which the South found 
itself after the surrender, there was work for Lee to 
do ; and he was not permitted to rest from his labors. 
In October, 1865, he was installed as President of 
Washington College ; there to devote the remainder of 
his days to the education of the young men of the 
South. And it would do injustice to his memory, to 
leave out that j>ortion of his life devoted to the simple 
and useful duties of a teacher of youth ; because the 
acknowledgement of this service is necessary to the 
completeness of his fame. In no position did he more 
signally develop the great qualities that adorned his 
life. Indeed, some of the very greatest can only be 
fully understood, in the light of the serene patience, and 
the calm and quiet consecration of his latest years. 
The fame of this wonderful man had so spread over 
the area of civilization, that the temptation must have 
been strong, if he had nature in him, to mingle with 
the noble and renowned among men of the old world 
— where he would have been received with effusion by 



IN" MEMORY OF GENERAL LEE. 41 

the great and good of every class. Princes and sove- 
reigns would have delighted to do him honor ; and, 
with his grand reputation, and not less grand presence, 
he would have found only his peers, among those 
trained and educated amidst the refinements of courts 
and thrones. But no ; duty was still his watch-word, 
" stern- voiced, ice-hearted duty." And in the sub- 
limity, and yet simplicity, of his resolute nature, he 
brought his more than regal character, his majestic 
fame, all his intellectual and moral endowments, to the 
task of fitting those who should come after him, for the 
varied duties of life. In the honorable, but unobtru- 
sive, occupation of a professor and teacher, he con- 
ferred enduring honor upon all the colleges and schools 
of the land ; and by his choice, reflected glory upon 
every member of that profession. And further, he 
taught the sublime lesson to his suffering countrymen, 
that even the most exalted fame, and the well-deserved 
plaudits of millions, did not rescue him from ihe com- 
mon lot of mankind, " In the sweat of thy face thou 
shalt eat bread." JS"or did he reject, as unworthy of 
him, even the most common-place duties of life ; nor 
would he receive any other support for himself or his 
family than that derived from just compensation for 
labor performed — and thus 

" Each morning sees some task begun, 

Each evening sees it close ; 
Something attempted, something done, 

Has earned a night's repose." 

At Lexington the great Southern leader intrenched 
himself upon the new battle-field of education and in- 
telligence, and gathered around him the ardent youth 
of a new generation, and the spirits of the illustrious 
dead, for the redemption of his conquered country. 
Lexington is the capital on the column, otherwise in- 
complete, of a harmonious and beautiful patriotism. 
Thus in the discharge of that "duty" which he him- 



42 PKOCEEDINGS AT SAVANNAH 

self has said in a letter to his son, "is the sublimest 
word in our language," he continued to live until the 
end of his days. 

But in this quiet and retirement his great heart was 
oppressed by the condition and the wrongs of his be- 
loved South. He had expected from a powerful nation 
accepting the surrender of his sword, if not that mag- 
nanimity, at, least that exercise of policy, which the 
extent of their achievements, and the practice of the 
great nations of the earth, would have dictated. He 
knew that in the palmy days of Rome no triumphs 
were decreed for the results of civil wars, but every 
effort used to gain the vanquished by benefits con- 
ferred, and thus admit them again into the great 
Roman family. And thus had Rome presented the 
imposing spectacle of "a city which becomes a people, 
and a people which embraces the world." 

But neither magnanimity, nor the lessons of history, 
could produce such a result, with the government that 
accepted his surrender. 

History # gives us no account of a more unhappy 
people than were ours, after the close of the war. 
Their cause was lost, "their liberties gone, the whole 
surface of the country spotted over with the graves of 
their martyred dead ; their motives aspersed, their 
character maligned, their families broken up, their 
homes desolate, their churches desecrated, their towns 
burned and pillaged, their fields lying waste, and their 
children starving ; and the future so dark and uncer- 
tain as to shed no light upon the cheerless present. 
The keenness of the anguish which he felt was aggra- 
vated and intensified, not only by demonstrations of 
the ardent love which this people bore him, but by 
that silence which he imposed on himself, for example 
and policy, and which was sometimes mistaken for a 
want of thorough appreciation of the wrongs under 
which we suffered. As he looked with painful anxiety 
to the future, there was a glimmer of hope that 



IN" MEMORY OF GENERAL LEE. 43 

material prosperity might yet return to this stricken 
land ; that the waste places might be again made glad, 
and a generous soil once more reward the labor of the 
husbandman. His imagination might see, for his 
children if not for himself, the valleys of his beloved 
South once more covered with waving corn, and once 
more the "cattle upon a thousand hills." And as 
he thought upon the hecatombs of those he loved, 
who had been sacrificed to constitutional freedom, 
and the blood of his kinsmen and his friends, yet 
smoking amid the desolations of his home, his bereaved 
friendship was consoled by the faith which points to 
the Eternal Morning — and the voice of the Redeemer of 
mankind, which says, "Thy brother is not dead, but 
sleepeth," taught him to look for reunion in the hopes 
of immortality. But his suffering patriot heart could 
find only despair in the lessons of history. Freedom 
once abused by a people, dies and has no resurrection. 
A farewell once taken is too often sad and final, and 
we are left to abide our doom in stolid resignation. 
Such was the picture presented to his mind by the 
condition of the great American Republic ; and the 
bitterness was only increased by the fact that the mass 
of those who controlled her destiny were blind to her 
real condition. 

" To mute and to material things 
New life revolving summer brings, 
The genial call dead nature hears, 
And in her glory reappears ; 
But, oh! my country's wintry state, 
What second spring shall renovate?" 

The cold steel had entered his heart, and pierced it 
to the core. Grandly he struggled, but gradually he 
sunk, under the weight of suffering, mental and physi- 
cal. A disease contracted as far back as the cam- 
paign of 1864, was slowly but surely undermining a 
constitution well nigh as remarkable as his mental and 



44 PROCEEDINGS AT SAVANNAH 

moral endowments. Possessed of extraordinary manly 
beanty, both of face and form, lie bad a strength of 
body and a capacity for action, for endurance of hun- 
ger, fatigue and exposure, which has rarely ever been 
equaled. He struggled to the last, and never suc- 
cumbed to disease, until actually stricken down in the 
very discharge of a specific duty. From the first no 
rational hope was left to his friends : and amid the 
tenderest care of his sorrowing family, after the expi- 
ration of but a few days, (during which no word of 
complaint ever escaped him,) he breathed his last on 
the 12th of October, 1870. 

"Joy, joy, my task is done, 

The gates are passed, and heaven is won." 

The cares of time are exchanged for the joys of 
eternity — the laurel wreath for the amaranthine crown. 

The first sensation produced by the news of General 
Lee's death can never be forgotten, but may not be 
described. Confined to no sect, or class, or latitude, 
the news Hashed across the Atlantic, and claimed the 
most marked, attention, even amidst the clash of arms 
on that side of the ocean. And the unmistakable 
estimation in which his exalted character was held by 
all true men, North and South, exhibited to us the 
first ray of hope that a returning sense of justice was 
at hand. So intense was the feeling, and so decided 
the demonstrations, that even they who would not join 
in the outburst of sorrow were content to remain silent. 
Never before did the quaint but pointed language of 
Jeremy Taylor, uttered more than two hundred years 
ago, more fitly apply to the life and death of any man : 
"He lived as we all should live, and died as I fain 
would die. Such was his death, that he did not die 
too soon. And his life was so useful and so excellent, 
that he could not have lived too long — Death conse 
crates and makes sacred that person whose excellency 
was such, that they who are not displeased at the 



IN MEMORY OF GENERAL LEE. 45 

death cannot dispraise the life — but they that mourn 
sadly, think that they can never commend sufficiently. ' ' 
Time and capacity would fail me in any attempt at 
a thorough analysis of the character and endowments 
of this extraordinary man. But we are content to ac- 
cept him as the representative of this people, and of the 
temper with which this whole Southern land entered 
into that gigantic struggle, which has closed to us in 
grief. We accept him as the representative of this 
same land, in the spirit of retirement from the strug- 
gle — in the dignity of that retirement — in the attitude 
of quiet submission to the conquering power with its 
arbitrary exactions — but without receding from those 
great principles which were embalmed in that struggle. 
"There are men all over this land who are sleeping 
upon memories as holy as death, and amid reproach 
appeal to the future, and to the tribunal of history, 
for the vindication of our cause," and whatever may 
be glory, or the material civilization of the conqueror, 
truth is still immortal and must prevail. 

"Ah, realm of tears — but let her bear 

This blazon to the end of time — 
No nation rose so white and fair, 

None fell so pure from crime. 
The widow's moan, the orphan's wail, 

Rise round thee — but in truth, be strong: 
Eternal right, though all else fail, 

Can never be made wrong." 

There is an expressive English word which describes 
the assemblage of many real virtues, of many quali- 
ties approaching nearly to virtues, and a union of 
manners, at once pleasing, and commanding respect — 
the word gentleman — which is so often flippantly 
misapplied, that we have almost lost sight of its real 
import. We accept General Lee as the highest type 
of the Southern gentleman — that combination of cour- 
age, courtesy, and culture, of truth and kindliness, 
with a scrupulous and sensitive regard for the rights 



46 PROCEEDINGS AT SAVANNAH 

and feelings of others. No ribald jest ever escaped 
his lips ; nor did he ever utter a word injurious to 
truth, decency, or to another's peace. He was ever as 
mindful of the gentle courtesies, and sweet charities 
of life, in his intercourse with woman, and even with 
little children and humble people, as he was easily at 
home amid the grander scenes of social and official 
intercourse, with the wise, the great, and the honored 
of the land. 

We honor and revere him as the incarnation of duty 
— of dignity, temperance,, and virtue — of unaffected 
modesty and genuine humility — of industry, patience, 
fortitude, and resignation — a character so grand in its 
proportions, so complete in all its details, so exquisite 
in its finish, that when we contemplate it, like the visi- 
tor who first looks on the cathedral of St. Peter's, its 
very perfections, symmetry, and completeness, ob- 
scure our capacity to appreciate its vastness. 

We love and honor him, because he lived not for 
himself, but for others ; and illustrated by his entire 
life, that complete self-abnegation only witnessed in 
the best days of the Roman Republic — and in a venal 
epoch, which discards as unworthy all that does not 
minister to material interests, we are once more thrilled 
with the blessed realization that man was indeed made 
but "a little lower than the angels." This forgetful- 
ness of self and regard for others, was manifested by 
his habit of turning over to the hospitals for the suffer- 
ing sick all the delicacies sent to his headquarters by 
his friends and countrymen — by his refusal to accept 
from the city of Richmond a dwelling house, tendered 
to himself and family in grateful recognition of his pub- 
lic services, at a time of his greatest successes, and our 
highest hopes. These he declined on the ground that 
his necessities were not so great as the suffering army. 
This noble trait was even more signally illustrated by 
an incident which occurred about a year before his 
death, the only one within my own special personal 



♦ IX MEMORY OF GENERAL LEE. 47 

experience, which I will ask leave to relate. In the 
summer of 1869, a gentleman whose large fortune was 
only equalled by his readiness to co-operate in every 
good work, proposed a scheme for an investment to be 
placed at the disposal of General Lee, which would 
(as far as human foresight could provide,) place be- 
yond contingency the material comfort of himself and 
his children after him. The only obstacle was the 
absence of General Lee' s consent, and I was requested 
to act as the medium of communication with him. The 
plan itself had been conceived, and was intended to be 
executed, with the utmost delicacy, and no effort was 
spared to use like delicacy in making it known to him. 
Full of grateful emotion, he protested, that all his 
wants were supplied, and that these kind intentions 
should be executed in bestowing benefits upon the 
truly needy. I attempt not to repeat his words, but 
his reply, full of dignity, appreciation, and tender- 
nesss, was so marked and decisive, as to make it im- 
possible to renew the subject, without positive intru- 
sion. I had seen him on the eve of great battles, with 
calm possession of himself, when he stood as upon the 
very brink of the grave, with the stillness of death all 
around him — I had seen him amid the dust and smoke 
of battle, with majestic mien, anxiously surveying the 
yet doubtful conflict — I had seen him in all the glory 
of victory just achieved — but never before so grand, so 
noble, so entitled to reverence and love, as in that quiet, 
retired moment, when, with grateful heart and moist- 
ened eye, he gave thanks for the intended kindness, 
but declined the proffered gift. 

To this assemblage it is not without interest to re- 
mark, that the first service of the young Lieutenant of 
Engineers, after his graduation at West Point, was in 
the city and harbor of Savannah, where he contracted 
early friendships and social relations, which continued 
through life, and left an impression upon society which 
has ever since been cherished. And when, in the last 



48 PROCEEDINGS AT SAVANNAH * 

year of his life, his physicians and the faculty of his 
college united in a request,- almost a demand, that he 
should leave his duties for a short season and seek the 
restoration of his health, he sought the climate and the 
society of Savannah for that purpose. None of us can 
forget the interest attached to that visit. With every 
effort made to avoid public demonstration, the feelings 
of our people could not be restrained, and though it 
was arranged with the city authorities and his personal 
friends, that he should -come entirely as a private indi- 
vidual, the unorganized mass of our people impulsively 
assembled on his arrival and gave him a spontaneous 
reception, more grateful than a Roman triumph ! 
Noble guest ! Honored community ! 

And here, too, we enjoyed the rare privilege of wit- 
nessing quiet, social, and affectionate intercourse, 
between the two great commanders of the Confederate 
armies. Friends from earliest youth, each knew well 
the true manhood and exalted merits of the other ; 
and each with soul too great to abate one jot or tittle 
of the fair fame of the other. While their intercourse 
was marked by simplicity and affectionate regard, the 
spectacle was sublime! He who had selected this 
community for the pursuit of his peaceful and unob- 
trusive avocation, was among the first to greet his 
brother chieftain on arrival, and the last to bid him 
farewell at his departure. In. this presence I may not 
speak in fitting terms of one who (thank Heaven !) is 
still among the living. But I may not forget that, 
though living, he belongs to history and to fame. Not 
to institute comparison or parallel — and craving par- 
don of that true modesty which always encircles the 
really great and good — I pronounce together the names 
of Lee and Johnston — twin heroes of the cause we 
love so well — the joint recipients of our utmost respect, 
admiration, and affection ! 

The association of these historic names, naturally 
recalls that other great Virginian — the silent, grim 



IN" MEMORY OF GENERAL LEE. 49 

warrior, victor of an hundred fields — that dazzling me- 
teor which appeared in the heavens at the opening of our 
struggle, and alas, too soon went out in glory ! gazed on 
with admiration by his countrymen, and with dire 
alarm by his enemies — putting to flight, in the short 
space of forty days, four separate armies, and closing 
a campaign in the valley, of which Hannibal might 
have been proud — while he ascribed all the glory unto 
the God of Battles — then dying in the arms of victory, 
at the moment when he had performed the mightiest 
of all his mighty deeds. 

Was ever such group presented before % Virginia, 
name ever dear to the Southern heart ! Oh ! Virginia ! 
Mother of statesmen and heroes ! was not thy quiver 
already full, before these the younger of thy illustri- 
ous sons were given thee? E'en in thy sorrow and 
sadness, thy homes all desolate, and thy land all 
smoking with the blood of thy children, the proudest 
nation of the earth might fain accept thy fate, as it 
gazes upon thy crown of glory with these added triple 
jewels ! 

And as national character so expresses itself in in- 
dividuals born to be representative men, we accept 
these as exemplars of the race to which we belong, and 
hold them up as a triple shield against the shafts of 
malice, detraction, or misrepresentation, from what- 
ever quarter they come. And to-day, in the presence 
of high Heaven, we present their names in solemn and 
lofty protest — Lee, Johnston, Jackson — their names, 
their lives, their characters, their deeds — and appeal to 
the civilization of the age, to the lovers of truth and 
manhood everywhere — against the ascription of dis- 
honor, treachery, or aught that is ignoble, to them, to 
us, or to our cause. 

In a paper, which has not appeared in print, a lit- 
erary friend, of this city,* has traced, with rare 
felicity, the wonderful and singular harmony that 

*Mr. Bogart. 



50 PKOCEEDINGS AT SAVANNAH 

exists between the two finest characters the New 
World has produced. ' ' Though Washington and 
Lee had no blood connexion, their birth-places, 
their families, and their histories are strangely as- 
sociated. It is a sufficiently surprising coincidence 
that the two foremost Americans should both have 
been Virginians ; but when we reflect that, sepa- 
rated in their births by exactly three-quarters of 
a century, they were yet born within ten miles of each 
other, in the same county ; that both sprang from pure 
English families of high social position, and intimate 
with each other ; that each was the child of a second 
marriage ; that both losing their fathers at just eleven 
years old, were yet early trained in habits of truth, 
honor and religion, and were commended even in 
childhood for the usual virtues that underlie all good 
character ; that both grew up high-toned and honor- 
able men, modest and retiring, yet full of moral cour- 
age, and followers of duty ; with characters well 
matched in dignity, loftiness and integrity — exemplars 
of every public virtue, and every private good — diffi- 
dent, yet self-reliant, distrustful of self, yet never dis- 
appointing the trust of others ; that both adorned 
their manhood by a religious profession and a religious 
life ; that both are, at home, proudly recognized ex- 
ponents of Southern sentiments and Southern charac- 
ter, and abroad, are admired for all that is good and 
great ; that both, alike soldiers and civilians, strove 
with equal zeal and like purpose, but with unlike ob- 
stacles and unequal success, for the right of self-gov- 
ernment ; each the leader of the armies of a struggling 
people, the one the vindicator of political liberty, the 
other no whit inferior, because he only deserved suc- 
cess ; that now in death their names, equally dear to 
our hearts, are united in the name of the ' Washing- 
ton-Lee University ;' endowed by the one, and by the 
other resuscitated to more than its former life ; that 
while thus one in spirit and character, affinity has 



IN MEMORY OF GENERAL LEE. 51 

established a new bond of union, in the fact that Mrs. 
Lee is the great-grand-daughter of Mrs. Washington ; 
that Lee's progenitors were the worthy associates of 
Washington in the Revolutionary struggle ; that 
Washington's most beloved officer in that war was 
Lee' s father — a favorite whom he took to his heart in 
his youth, and pushed forward far beyond the merit 
of his years — and that when the death of the Pater 
Patrice was first honored by public ceremonial, it was 
this same favorite that Congress chose to express its 
public eulogium ; when we reflect on these multiplied 
evidences we shall cease to wonder that these two — 
Par nobile Fratrum — are, by a marvellous unity of 
character, enshrined in our hearts forever." 

It was the remark of Lord Brougham, that ' ' the 
advance which any nation may hereafter make in civ- 
ilization will be measured by the veneration it pays to 
the name of Washington." And now, as the grave of 
our lamented hero-friend is bedewed with the most 
tender and sacred tears ever shed upon a human tomb, 
we do honor to ourselves, and to the land which he 
served, when we swear to cherish his fame, his deeds, 
and his example, as the noblest heritage to which 
Hope can cling. While a people are animated by- 
such sentiments, and hold aloft such an example, 
their virtues can never die. And as we mourn over the 
grave of our beloved chief, let us cling to the stricken 
land he served so long and loved so well. Let us in 
our daily life respond to the beautiful words of our 
own poet-priest : 

"A land without ruins is a land without memories ; 
a land without memories is a land without liberty. A 
land that wears a laurel crown may be fair to see, but 
twine a few sad cypress leaves around the brow of any 
land ; and be that land beautiless and bleak, it be- 
comes lovely in its consecrated coronet of sorrow, and 
wins the sympathy of the heart and of history. 
Crowns of roses fade, crowns of thorns endure. Cal- 



52 PKOCEEDINGS AT SAVAXXAH. 



varies and crucifixes tak« deepest hold of humanity. 
The triumphs of might are transient, they pass away 
and are forgotten ; the sufferings of right are graven 
deepest on the chronicles of nations." 

But his name and fame will survive while history 
lasts ; even though a stricken and impoverished peo- 
ple shall not be able to respond in monumental marble 
to the promptings of their hearts, and raise to him a 
fitting shaft, whose top shall pierce the skies. The voice 
of the civilized world has been heard, and the univer- 
sal feeling is in accord with the sentiments promptly 
uttered by a conspicuous organ of public opinion in 
England : "A country which has given birth to him, 
and those who followed him, may look the chivalry of 
Europe in the face without shame ; for the fatherlands 
of Sydney and Bayard never produced a more noble 
soldier, gentleman, christian, than Robert E. Lee." 

In the memorial fields of history, where the records 
of great deeds are so preserved as to impart to them 
somewhat of the essence of eternal life, the fame of our 
illustrious chief will derive fresh lustre from the lapse 
of time. There the germ of this pure renown has 
already grown to the beautiful form and proportions 
of the laurel of our sunny clime. Enriched by the 
ashes of the patriot dead, and watered by the tears of 
a grateful people, its roots take firmer hold, its trunk 
rises towards Heaven, its branches spread wider and 
wider, inviting to shelter in its refreshing shade. 
Through its myriad leaves of deepest green and flowers 
of spotless white, all glistening in the sunshine, there is 
wafted to us on every breeze the airs of sweet music 
and the charms of delicious odors. And as we gaze 
and listen, its sunlight is the smile of Grod, its airs the 
airs of immortality ! 



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